Early Music : Though the roots of Carnatic music can be traced to the Vedas, especially the Sama Veda, the music of then and now is strikingly different, but for a few basic notes. The differences are not only in actual renditions, but also in basic musical concepts. Early music confined itself to a few notes, which were repeated in different sequences, with more stress on tonal purity and clarity of diction. Only gradually did the concepts of creative music (independent of lyrics, like raga elaboration) and more sophisticated musical forms emerge.
Bharata’s treatise, Natya Shastra, written roughly 2000 years ago, offers a remarkable glimpse of the art in his times. There is reference to simple musical scales, jaati (forerunner of the raga), instruments of different types and prevalent performing practices. By the 8th and 9th Century AD, the term raga was introduced in Brihaddesiby Matanga, and a few ragas mentioned therein are still being used today, with or without minor changes.
Creative Music : The earliest available reference to creative music is found in Sangita Ratnakara of Sarangadeva (13th Century), and it includes improvisations that were dependent on the song, as well as those independent of it. Creative aspects mentioned then are found both in Carnatic and Hindustani music today, although with altered terminologies.
Bifurcation : Around the 12th-13th century, Mughal culture started impacting the northern regions of India. Gradually, the music began to develop along new lines, paving the way for a new hybrid system of Indo-Persian music, which is now referred to as Hindustani music. Carnatic music remained relatively unaffected, as the Mughal impression was negligible in the south. Musical works of the medieval period (14th- 19th century) agreed on the basics but differed in details depending on where they were written – north or south.
Compositions : Carnatic music was revolutionised by composers like Purandaradasa, Annamacharya, Oottukkadu Venkata Kavi, Tyagaraja, Muttuswami Dikshitar, Shyama Shastri and the like. They compelled it to place more importance on re-creative music, by the sheer immensity of their works. Prior to that, compositions were no doubt rendered, but the stress was more on creative music. However, a few thousand of the earliest compositions have not survived in original tunes today.
Considered as musical forms, their music was quite simple, though the lyrics were of a high order. Today, if a musician renders the works of Azhwars — divyaprabandham, and Nayanmars – tevaram, or the tiruppugazh of Arunagirinatha, or even the devaranamas of Purandara Dasa and the krtis of Annamacharya, he or she renders them in tunes that, for all their beauty, may bear no relationship to the originals.
Purandara Dasa systematized the basics and introduced teaching methods that are widely followed even today. Annamacharya is credited with having introduced the sections, pallavi, anupallavi and charanam, in krtis; and Kshetragna was the first to compose padams. Oottukkadu Venkata Kavi was probably one of the earliest to compose tillanas, kavadichindus and several other types of krtis, including those that made extensive use of medium or faster tempo (madhyamakald) passages.
The Trinity took musical forms to unprecedented and, in many ways, unsurpassed heights. Javalis came to prominence through the works of Dharmapuri Subbaraya, Pattabhiramayya, Patnam Subramania Iyer and Ramanathapuram Srinivasa Iyengar. The first varnam, according to scholars, if Viriboni, in the raga Bhairavi, a creation of Pachimiriam Adiappayya, who is also said to have developed the creative piece, ragam tanam pallavi.
Evolution of Instruments : Early works like the Natya Shastra indicate that there were instruments of various kinds -stringed, wind and rhythmic. Several among these have vanished altogether, while a few like the chitravina have changed substantially even as the music evolved. Only a few, such as the bamboo flute and the mrdangam, are active in their original forms in concerts today. The fretted veena, whose origins are sometimes traced to Saraswati, the Goddess of learning, and at other times to the Vedas, was actually a successor of fretless veenas like the chitravina and vipanchi veena, and acquired its present structure only during the 17th century, undergoing several modifications en route.
The violin was introduced to Carnatic music around the dawn of the 19th century, while the guitar and clarinet came in much later. Instruments like the ghatam, kanjira, and morsing have recently been adopted by Carnatic musicians and are believed to have been borrowed from folk music.
Concert format: Even at the beginning of the 20th century, the concert format was strikingly different from what it is today. The duration of the concerts was anything between four to six hours. The number of compositions, or the types of songs rendered, were also different. A major share of the total duration of the concert was allocated to improvisation. Ariyakkudi Ramanuja Iyengar is credited with having given a new dimension to the concert format. He was among the first to anticipate a reduction in the attention span of listeners, and devised a format that revolved around the golden mean principle of variety and proportion. He increased the percentage of compositions and balanced it with improvisation. Most artistes follow this pattern now.
Patronage : From ancient times till a few decades back, Carnatic music was patronised by the royalty and the rich. Today, the system has become more democratic and easily available to the common man. Many organisations have been established with the primary objective of propagating and preserving the system. Major corporate bodies have diverted a good part of their time and resources to promote it, while radio and television networks and recording companies have contributed substantially to the increase in its popularity.
Earlier, the performances were held in palaces, temples or marriage halls. Today’s musicians perform in large auditoria and halls across the planet, participating in major international art festivals and political or academic conferences. Of course, temple festivals and weddings continue to be important cultural occasions even today.
Until recently, Carnatic music was confined to South India and South Indians. With the world shrinking each day, its popularity has increased tremendously in a very short time, and students from many parts of the world come to learn Carnatic music. The late Prof Temple Turtle, a prominent ethnomusicologist in Cleveland, USA, observed, “Indian classical music forms are thriving in the West. The era of a surface attraction, or exoticism, is long past. Conscientious teachers, performers, concert arrangers, and researchers are devoted to maintaining authentic Carnatic musical traditions.”
What was once a pursuit for pure excellence has, today, grown into one of the most enviable professions too. From the point of view of music aficionados, Carnatic music has become more accessible than at any other time in history. There are scores of wonderful web sites and portals that provide information on musical aspects, including lyrics of compositions, audio recordings, news, reviews, char rooms, and literally take the music to every doorstep and desktop. Carnatic music has become truly international.